Bezel for watch-crystals.



C. H. HALL.

BEZEL FOR WATCH CRYSTALS.

APPLICATION FILED Aue.24. 1917.

1,260,894. Pa ltented Mar. 26,1918.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLIFFORD H. HALL, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, AssICNO'n T-O WATERBURY CLOCK CO., or wATEnBunY, CONNECTICUT, A. CORPORATION.

Application filed August 24, 1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLIFFORD H. HALL, a CltlZtll of the United States, residing at aterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Bezels for l/Vatch-Crystals; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the characters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this application, and represent, in-

l igure 1 a plan view oi? a bezel constructed in accordance with my invention and having a crystal mounted in it.

Fig. 2 an edge view thereof.

Fig. 3 a broken reverse enlarged plan view or the bezel and crystal, showing the latter as held in place by the inwardly turned retaining-flange of the former.

Fig. 1 a view in broken transverse section on the line ll of 3 on a still larger scale.

Fig. 5 a detached reverse plan view of the bezel on the scale of Fig. 3, prior to the introduction of the crystal into it.

Fig. 6 a view in broken transverse section on the line 66 of Fig. 5, on the scale of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 a broken view in transverse section of the bezel on the scale of Figs. 4 and 6, prior to being machined for the production upon its inwardly turned inner edge of its seat and retaining-flange.

My invention relates to an improved bezel for watch crystals, and particularly for bezels designed to receive non-breakable crystals such as those made of celluloid or corresponding material, the object being to adapt the bezel to retain the crystal in place without placing the same under tension and to compensate for shrinkage in the crystal due to seasoning.

With these ends in View, my invention consists in a bezel provided with a seat for the edge of the crystal, and with an inwardly turned annular retaining-flange for holding the crystal against the said seat.

My invention further consists in a bezel having certain details of construction as will be hereinafter described and particularly recited in the claim.

Specification of Letters Iatent.

Patented Mar. 26, 1918.

sci-m1 NO. 187,933.

In carrying out my invention as herein shown, the bezel 8 is formed with an annular, inwardly overhanging seat 9, and with a thin, fin-like integral annular retaining-flang 10 located adjacent to the said seat on the inside of the bezel from which it offsets and made sufliciently flexible to be inwardly deflected so as to positively confine the beveled edge 11 of the crystal 12 in place between it and the said seat 9 which prevents the outward displacement of the crystal, while the flange 1O prevents the inward displacement thereof, the said seat and tlai'ige being sutlicient in the extent of their bearing surfaces to hold the crystal in place even though some shrinkage takes place in it due to seasoning, as in the case of a celluloid crystal.

In the use of celluloid crystals, it is designed that they shall be initially given a permanent, concave-convex form prior to their introduction into the bezel, and be made of such diameter in relation to the diameter of the seat 9 of the bezel as not to be placed under tension when introduced into the bezel. Tension in the crystals is, therefore, neither relied upon to hold them in place nor to give them concavO-convex form.

Preferably the seat 9 and flange 10 are produced by forming the bezel with an inwardly turned edge 13 as shown in Fig. 7, and then cutting away the face of the said edge to produce the seat 9 and flange 10, giving the cross-sectional form shown in Fig. 6. A permanently set concavo-convex crystal 12 is then inserted from the inside of the bezel, (just the reverse of the ordinary practice) so as to bring the outer face of its beveled edge 11 into contact with the inwardly inclined seat 9 of the bezel. The annular retainingflange 10 is then bent inward from the position. in which it is shown in Fig. 6 into the position in which it is shown in Fig. at, whereby the edge 1.1 of the crystal is permanently and positively confined by a structural modification of the bezel made after the introduction of the crystal thereinto, whereas in the Ordinary practice, the bezel is completed and the crystal snapped into it, as in the case of glass crystals, or sprung into it, as in the case of celluloid crystals, after the bezel has assumed its final form.

While I have described my improvement as particularly adapted for use in conjunction with non-breakable crystals, such as celluloid, I hold myself at liberty to use it in conjunction with glass crystals or crystals of any other material if desired.

As shown, the inner edge of the bezel is turned inwardly to form the snap-flange 14; by which the bezel is secured to the centerband of the watch.

In a broad View of my invention, it comprehends the construction of a bezel so as to provide a positive double-grip for the watch-crystal by the formation upon its edge of two gripping-members between which the edge of the crystal is located for positively holding the crystal against displacement in either direction, these gripping-members being formed integral with the edge of the bezel and one consisting, as shown, of the overhanging annular seat 9, and the other consisting, as shown, of the thin, annular retaining-flange 10 which is sufficiently flexible to be bodily set inward under the inner face of the edge of the crystal after the same has been introduced from the inside of the bezel, so as to rest upon the seat 9 thereof.

I claim:-

A sheet-metal bezel for watch crystals, the said bezel having its crystal-retaining edge turned inward substantially at a right angle to the plane of the bezel and a portion of the inner face of the said inwardly turned edge being reduced in thickness to produce an inwardly over-hanging annular seat and an offsetting fin-like annular retaining-flange the said flange being adapted to be turned bodily inward under the inner face of the edge of the crystal after the same has been placed against the said seat from the inside of the bezel.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C." 

